LEGAL BRIEF By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq. If you are trying to decide whether to buy a Windows-based PC or a Mac, one of the factors you will certainl
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PC or Mac — any legal difference?
Home » Forums » Newsletter and Homepage topics » PC or Mac — any legal difference?
- This topic has 6 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 3 weeks ago.
AuthorTopicMax Stul Oppenheimer
AskWoody_MVPJanuary 27, 2025 at 2:43 am #2742835Viewing 3 reply threadsAuthorReplies-
GeeDee55
AskWoody LoungerJanuary 27, 2025 at 7:39 am #2742892Under the para heading “Things you might think you can do — but you can’t”, you refer to legitimate interest with a rider in brackets.
I frequently come across this term when opting out of the many cookies associated with websites and, in some instances, have to manually remove each item individually.
Aside from the fact this is illegal in the UK as all cookies, other than those essential for the web site to operate, should default to having to choose to Opt in, not automatically be opted in, what does the term legitimate interest mean and why should there be a separate option?
1 user thanked author for this post.
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Cybertooth
AskWoody PlusJanuary 27, 2025 at 10:55 am #2742994This pair of sentences in Max’s article caught my eye:
You can make one — and only one — backup copy of the software. That’s good news for those of us who know that we should regularly back up our system but don’t (because if you kept more than one backup, you’d be in violation of the license agreement).
After reading this, I got curious as to how it compares to the Windows license. In Section 2, “Installation and Use Rights,” here’s what it says:
e. Backup copy. You may make a single copy of the software for backup purposes, and may also use that backup copy to transfer the software if it was acquired as stand-alone software, as described in Section 4 below.
So it would seem that anybody who maintains a backup strategy involving more than one system image of Windows is clearly in violation of the license terms. I wonder how many here at Woody’s thus qualify as habitual transgressors.
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bbearren
AskWoody MVPJanuary 27, 2025 at 12:58 pm #2743053Windows license. In Section 2, “Installation and Use Rights,”
In that same Section 2:
“d. Multi-Use scenarios.
Multiple versions. If when acquiring the software you were provided with multiple versions (such as 32-bit and 64-bit versions), you may install and activate only one of those versions at a time.e. Backup copy. You may make a single copy of the software for backup purposes, and may also use that backup copy to transfer the software if it was acquired as stand-alone software, as described in Section 4 below.”
Clearly this is in reference to the installation media for the software, particularly in reference “to transfer the software if it was acquired as stand-alone software”.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".1 user thanked author for this post.
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Cybertooth
AskWoody PlusJanuary 27, 2025 at 2:01 pm #2743078Suppose that a Microsoft lawyer argued that, since any image of a Windows system necessarily and self-evidently involves making a backup copy of the Windows software, we therefore may not make more than one image: How would we answer that?
Of course, whether this issue would ever reach a courtroom is a different matter, just as with the issues of telemetry and forced updates.
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CraigSH
AskWoody PlusJanuary 27, 2025 at 8:32 pm #2743211Tried to comment on Brian Livinston’s article about Windows 11 or Mac, but the link is broken.
So, downgrade to winders 11 or stay with 10? I want to go back to 7, actually XP but that is an impossibility. I have some hardware that the windows 7 version works great. The winders 10/11 version absolutely sucks 110 %. I currently have one system in 11 and I am about to format and re-install 10 in it. I stupidly and mistakenly downgraded it to 11 and have regretted that decision ever since.
MAC, NEVER!!!
I know most people are Intel CPU users, and gen 10+ requires winders 11. So, I build my systems using AMD CPU’s so I can stay with 10. I want all cores to be performance cores.
The only Intel CPU I want is gen 8 or earlier, but they are next to impossible to acquire.
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Still Anonymous
AskWoody PlusJanuary 29, 2025 at 1:06 pm #2743821This is all good stuff. Thanks for reading through the detail.
Ultimately, the bottom line (as it is with any EULA produced under the Uniform Commercial Code) is that for all the verbiage, they’re protecting their rights and prerogatives, and benefit to the customer is not only coincidental, but where they reserve the right to change terms unilaterally.
Although there may be things that are specific to Apple (including what they think they’re protecting), it’s not really different from any other EULA agreement, Microsoft or anybody else.
Of course there is a difference between what they try to bind you to in an EULA, and what they can actually enforce in litigation. They’re mostly interested in defending against lawsuits against them, but won’t hesitate to press a suit against the other side, if they think it’s in their interests to do so
1 user thanked author for this post.
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